Last weekend two ICC accredited courses were held in La Manga and Madrid respectively.

The Murcia resort was the venue for a Level Two Coaches Course with instructors Dave Gelling and Neil Brook. This was the first weekend of two for the experienced coaches, the second weekend will take place later in the year, in September.

Candidates were the Spanish National Team Manager Gary Crompton, Scott Burchill of Levante CC, Matthew Dexter of Newton College School, Mark Perman of Sporting Alfas, Armaghan Khan from the Catalan region and Madrid based Ittifaq Ahmed.

Meanwhile, on the same weekend an ICC Level One Umpire Course was taking place in the Spanish Capital. Two Spanish born candidates Victor Medina and Liam Clark were on the course along with Madrid Star members Imran Younus and Rizwan Shah. Angapan was the third candidate from Madrid Cricket Club and Madrid United's sole representative was Irfan Ul Haq.

All six candidates spent the weekend learning the laws of cricket under the expert tutelage of ICC instructor Ray Hoyler. The candidates were rewarded for their efforts - all six were successful in achieving the 80% pass mark required.